


Kitty Rose & The Pigeon

by madgrace



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Kidge - Freeform, kidgeweek, lots of cliches in general, lots of dumb rom com cliches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2016-12-15
Packaged: 2018-09-07 19:59:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8814292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madgrace/pseuds/madgrace
Summary: A collection of one shots written for kidge week on tumblr.Day 1: BurnDay 2: SecretDay 3: CompetitionDay 4: AUDay 5: HomeDay 6: ArmsDay 7: Holiday





	1. Burn

New York, it’s one of the busiest cities in the country, in the world even. Millions and millions of people bustling about in a city too small and too crowded. It’s the city that never sleeps and quite often it’s inhabitants don’t sleep either. 

It’s not uncommon for arguments or even full on fist fights to break out in the streets of Manhattan. In fact it’s surprisingly common for a pair of sleep deprived strangers to momentarily stop what their doing to shout an unkind remark to each other when crossing the street or bumping into each other in the subway. Most of the city natives ignore it at this point, drowning it out as they quickly make their way to wherever they needed to be. 

That’s why no one took notice when a coffee laden young woman ran headfirst into a leather clad young man and spilt her blistering hot drink all over his front. 

“Fuck!”

“Oh shit, I’m so sorry!”

The girl grimaces up at the coffee stained man, the large pair of glasses on her face fogging up slightly as stares up at the other nervously. On an impulse she reaches toward him, trying to dry the mess she’s created with her coat sleeve. The dark haired man winces upon impact, showing more anger than pain as he sends a glare in her direction. He takes a step back, gripping the hands dabbing at his shirt and forcibly pushing them away. 

“Don’t touch me.”

Her eyes narrow at that, cheeks growing slightly pink as she meets his glare with an indignant scowl. “Look, buddy I’m just trying to help, okay? You don’t need to be an asshole about it.”

“Well you can help me by watching where you’re going next time.”

He turns away, rolling his eyes as he begins to make his way down the busy sidewalk. As he turns a gust of bitter winter wind blows past him, raising the hem of his undershirt just enough to reveal a red hot burn beginning to form on his torso. The girl’s eyes widen at that, freezing a moment to glance at it before forcing herself into the crowd to chase after him. 

He may be an asshole and she may regret this in the future but the whole situation is still her doing and she’ll never forgive herself if he turns out to be seriously hurt and she did nothing to help him. 

He hid his pain well enough. She knows how hot they brew their coffee at the cafe she’d just departed. It’s exactly how she likes it. But even she needed to give it a good minute to cool down before jugging it down her throat. That guy could potentially have some serious burns on him and could cause further harm to himself if he didn’t treat himself quickly enough. She doesn't care how much of a ‘tough guy’ he is you don’t just walk off a burn like that like it’s nothing. 

She swears the people in this city are so stupid. He’s lucky that _she’s so nice_. 

Once in the middle of the great crowd bustling about the sidewalk, it’s hard to navigate well let alone find someone amidst the sea of people. She is after all an unusually short person for her age. It’s no matter though, what she lacks in height she makes up for in brains and feistiness. She wouldn’t have survived in this city for this long otherwise. 

Her eyes dart around at the various people surrounding her in the crowd, stopping only when a mop of messy dark hair crosses her view. She hastens her speed, reaching an arm out as she runs toward him. With a forceful grip she grabs hold of his wrist, pulling him back into a stop. In a flash he whips his head around toward her, his bewildered expression quickly changing into one of irritation as he recognizes her. 

“Wha— _You_. Can’t you leave me alone?”

Normally she’d be just as irritated with having to deal with such an incorrigible person, but she’s determined to help him now. She’ll fix this even if she has to literally drag him to a place where he can get help. She frowns, eyes narrowed in a look of annoyance to rival his. “Look, **tough guy** I saw the burn on you okay. Now you can continue acting like a dick all you want but can you just let me help you so I don’t have to have your stupid ass resting on my conscience?”

He sighs, rolling his eyes once more before looking at her with a sort of defeated looking expression. 

“Do I have a choice?”

“Not really.”

Her grip on his wrist tightens as she leads him in the other direction. “My apartment isn’t too far from here. I’ve got ice, bandages and whatever else you might need.”

The prompts a look of surprise from him, raising an eyebrow and casting her a quizzical look as she continued to pull him along the street. “You’re really taking me to your apartment?”

“Do you have any other ideas, tough guy?”

“No. But you don’t even know me.”

“Yeah, I know you enough.”

“So you’re not afraid I might rob you or murder you once we’re there?”

“If you were the type of person to rob or murder me you probably would have already done it by now. Besides…” she stops mid step as she pulls out a small object from her coat pocket, “—I’ve got a taser.” 

He shrugs. “Fair enough.”

As they pull up to a seedy looking apartment building she releases the grip on his wrist. “This is the place.” She motions for him to follow her, stepping forward as she pushes the front doors open. 

The interior of the building is much nicer and hospitable looking than it’s exterior ( though he’s not really one to judge he’s currently living in a shitty apartment in the bronx ), a couple of couches resting against a floral wallpaper covered wall. In the center of the back wall a wooden check in desk lay with a tan, narrow faced young man behind it reading a magazine. 

The sandy haired girl in front of him waves to the guy behind the desk before turning toward elevators on the far right wall. “Hey, Lance.”

“Hey, Pidge forget something?” Lance looks up from his magazine, smiling up at the girl, ( ‘Pidge’ he thought he’d said ) before noticing the rather grumpy man behind her. “Oh. Have company this time?” He raises a thin eyebrow at the pair, an little smirk stretching across his face. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Pidge freezes, her finger inches from the elevator button as she turns toward the man behind the desk. Her face burns as she furiously shakes her head, eyes darting between the two men. She laughs nervously, “Hah— it’s not like that. This is…uh.”

Suddenly Pidge is overwhelmingly aware that she’d forgotten to even ask the guy’s name before dragging him here. Wow, how bright is she?

“Keith. I’m Keith.”

For the first time since entering the building Keith speaks, raising his hand in a sort of curt wave as he greets the other man rather hollowly. The duo’s protest seems to only further amuse Lance, his brows rising higher and his grin growing wider. In response Keith rolls his eyes shifting between the embarrassed girl next to him and the nosy and frankly obnoxious guy behind the desk. 

Pidge turns, awkwardly gesturing to him for a moment before pressing her index button on the elevator button.  “Uh, yeah that’s Keith. So yeah see you later Lance.”

As the elevator doors open, Pidge swiftly moves into the elevator, grabbing Keith by the sleeve and pulling him in also. Keith at this point is more used to being pushed and pulled around by this minuscule girl that he doesn’t even protest despite his burns aching every time she does so. He doubts it would do him much good anyway. From the little time he’s known her she’s proven to be an annoyingly stubborn person. If anything it’ll just waste more time therefore making it longer until he can leave and never see her or her mane of sandy hair again.

“He seems _charming_.”

Pidge chuckles, rolling her eyes as she pushes the button to her floor. “Well you’re one to talk. You're not exactly all sunshine and daisies either. How’s your burn?”

“I’ll manage.”

“ _Sure_ , buddy.”

The elevator stops, making a small ding before opening up to a narrow hallway. Pidge steps out thankfully not grabbing onto Keith this time as she makes her way down the hall. Her room ends up being pretty far down the hall or at least it felt that way as they strode across the carpeted floor. Her door is rather plain, a large 36 hanging crooked from the white wood surface. As Pidge moves to unlock the door she turns to Keith, a slightly embarrassed looking smile on her face. “Uh, my place is pretty messy right now. Didn’t think I’d be having anyone over this morning.”

Keith returns her smile with the smallest trace of an amused grin, saying nothing but giving her a small nod. Despite everything he finds himself becoming slightly endeared to her antics. He’s definitely never met anyone like her before. Whether that worked in Pidge’s favor or not he’s not entirely sure. 

She opens the door, instantly removing her large camo green coat as she walks into the room. Carelessly she tosses the coat onto a worn leather couch sitting on the far right side of the room. She turns gesturing to the couch as she moves to the other side of the room. “You can sit down over there. I’m gonna go grab some ice.”

Keith nods, watching Pidge turn the corner and enter the kitchen area of the apartment. He hesitates a moment before sitting himself down on the couch cushions, trying to plan out a way to lower himself in the most painless fashion. 

He may be incredibly skilled at hiding his pain but in reality the burns across his chest and torso are causing him immense pain. It’s not the worse pain he’s ever felt. No, he’s been enough accidents and injured himself enough times for that to be clear. But it’s no walk in the park either and at this point the sooner he can get some ice or something to ease this pain the better. 

When Pidge returns she’s laden with not one, not two, but three enormous ice packs. In slight amusement Keith wonders why on earth she’d have such a need for so many ice packs in such a small apartment. Then again he may not be the only one who’s reckless and accident prone. “Okay I’ve got the ice. Now I’m pretty sure all you really need to do is put ice on the burn and soak it in cold water. But I’ve really only had small burns and nothing super intense so I’ll leave you to be the judge of that. It’s on your chest right?”

“Yeah.”

“Um so I’ll leave you to— um that.” A faint blush appears upon the apples of her cheeks, dropping the ice packs on the cushion beside Keith. “I’ll give you some privacy and maybe look for a shirt for you to change out of or something.”

“— Wait, you don’t have to.”

“No, it’s fine. Honestly you don’t wanna go out again looking like that. You look like shit.”

He raises an eyebrow, a small smile tugging on the corner of his lips. “Thanks, I guess.”

She says nothing but nods and disappears into what Keith can only assume is her bedroom. He pauses a moment before lifting up the ice packs from the couch,debating whether he should move somewhere to ice himself or just throw caution to the wind and just take off his shirt in the middle of this stranger’s apartment. 

Well it’s not really that big of a deal right? It’s not like it’s not anything you wouldn’t see on the beach somewhere or in some stupid fashion add. He hopes Pidge won’t mind since he really would like to cool his burns and he’d rather not give her a reason to use that taser she showed him. 

Thankfully his leather jacket didn’t get damaged at all during the whole coffee debacle, most of the drink landing on his gray t-shirt something he’s got about a dozen of back at his apartment. He’s rather attached to his jacket truth be told so he’s grateful that he won’t have to part with it after this. 

He rises to his feet, shaking his jacket off his shoulders before grabbing hold the hem of his shirt and carelessly pulling it over his head. Sitting back down he grabs one of the many ice packs and places it gently across one of the large burns on his stomach. He inhales sharply upon impact, letting out a sigh of relief as he feels himself cooling down. He hadn’t realized how bad his burns felt until he actually started treating them. Hopefully it won’t be this bad for long or at least let up a little now that he’s put ice on it. He’s never really gotten a burn like this so he wouldn’t really know how long this would last. 

The door opens and Pidge steps out, her long hair now tied in a high ponytail carrying what looks to be a baggy orange t-shirt. “Okay so I found this old shirt my brother left around here. He’s probably a little smaller than you but it’s a better shot than anything I’d—”

She stops mid sentence once she lifts her eyes from the shirt in her hand and notices Keith. Her eyes widen, face going completely red as she rushes to cover her eyes with her free hand. “Oh my god! Sorry— I’m just gonna head back in there and leave you to your ice. Here take this shirt when you’re done.” Still covering her eyes she throws the shirt in his direction before running straight back into the room. 

As it so happens Pidge apparently has great aim even with her eyes closed, the shirt hitting Keith square in the face. An expression of mixed confusion and amusement on his face, Keith pulls the shirt from his face to properly inspect it. 

The shirt isn’t exactly the most fashionable thing ( not that Keith cares about that sort of thing really ). Not only being an obnoxious shade of orange the shirt it read in bright red letters _‘Never trust an atom, they make up everything’_ alongside a picture of an atom. Upon reading the shirt Keith has to control his urge to roll his eyes at the science joke. What kind of person would willingly wear this in public? — Pidge’s brother apparently who apparently was a **giant nerd**. 

“Well…beggers can’t be choosers I guess.” 

He gives himself another minute to ice himself down before standing and pulling the shirt over his head. Surprisingly the shirt fit him rather well. Not that it made the shirt flattering. In all honesty Keith felt like a sixth grader sent off to science camp. Hopefully his jacket will cover up most of the shirt or at least make him feel less lame. 

He moves to the other side of the room, grabbing his jacket and putting it on as he did so. He stops once he reaches the door leading into Pidge’s bedroom, knocking on the door lightly. “Uh, Pidge…I think I’m gonna go.”

There’s the sound of rustling behind the door and in a moment Pidge appears, now without her glasses. “Oh yeah sure.”

For a moment there’s silence between, both of them unsure of what to say. This is after all an incredibly unusual situation for the pair of them to be in. Should Keith just leave? Should he thank her? If you’d asked him how he’d depart an hour ago he would have absolutely left without another word regardless of how rude it may come off ( He’s never had a problem with not wanting to be rude really ), but she really did do him a solid by helping him out no matter how obnoxious and annoying she had come off at first. 

“So are you gonna want this shirt back at all?” 

_Of all the things to say. Nice one Keith._

Pidge smirks, taking a moment to look him over before bursting into laughter. “No, definitely not. It looks _too great_ on you for me to keep it. Besides my brother was starting to wear it too much. I only have it because I stole it from his place last time I was there.”

Keith chuckles, nodding as he begins to make his way toward the door to the hallway. “Okay than. Well um…thanks— for everything.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

He gives her one last, curt wave before opening the door and entering the hallway. A sort of wistful smile rests on his lips as he walks down the hall. While she hadn’t been the most pleasant person to be around ( not that he’s very pleasant either ), she definitely gave him an experience he’ll never forget and he’s definitely learned to appreciate the kindness of strangers. 

He’s almost to the elevator when he hears loud footsteps coming from behind him and in a moment a loud call can be heard. “Keith, wait!” 

He stops, whipping his head around to see Pidge running toward him. It’s quite a sight actually; her long hair moving wildly like it had a life of it’s own and an hard expression on her face. She was without her shoes, her feet clad only in vibrant green socks. If he didn’t know better Keith would say she ran out to follow him the minute he’d left. 

When she reaches him she hunches over, breathing heavily for a moment before handing him a small slip of paper clenched in her fist. “My…number.” she says between labored breaths. She lifts her head up, a sort of bashful smile on her face. “I figured you might need it. Somebody’s gotta keep you from getting coffee burns again.”

He grins, “Yeah, sounds good.”

“Give me a call sometime. We can hang out or something— Not coffee though.”

“Really? You strike me as a coffee person. Don’t know why though.”

She rolls her eyes, “Oh, _haha_.”

A pause. 

“Well,” Pidge begins, starting to turn back in the other direction, “…see you around, tough guy.”

“See you around.”

Keith turns also, taking a few more steps toward the elevator before he hears Pidge’s voice once more, “Fuck.”

He turns his head in her direction, “What?”

“I think I locked myself out.”


	2. Secret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little note that this is a Pidge gender reveal oneshot starting in Keith's POV so Pidge will have he/him pronouns for a short portion of this.

Keith’s been looking for Pidge for the better half of three hours now. He’s starting to get pretty frustrated at this point. He’s already missed lunch and one of his usual training sessions. He’s about to miss dinner if this search carries on for much longer. He’s looked practically every spot where he’d think he’d be; the dining hall, the training deck, the hold where they keep their lions.  But the castle still is large and has plenty of rooms he hasn’t checked. It’s very likely that that Pidge could be in one of those places especially considering he has a habit of falling asleep in strange places. 

He probably would have given up his search if he wasn’t in such dire need of his assistance and expertise. Earlier that morning his lion had been behaving abnormally. Of course this is to be expected at times. As faithful and useful their lions may be, they still are pieces of alien technology that are full of mysteries none of them can properly comprehend. Especially in Keith’s case seeing as the red lion is the most unpredictable and unruly of the bunch. 

Perhaps that’s why she seemed so difficult to tame and control at times. Today for example while he’d been trying figure out the cause of his malfunctions he received a rather nasty electric shock. He’s no machinery expert but he’s been known to be fairly handy whenever his bike had issues and needed a quick fix. 

However any sort of technology aboard this ship is way beyond his capabilities. How Pidge was able to not only familiarize herself with all this alien technology but actually make his own modifications and upgrades is a mystery to him. He may have been the top of his class at the Garrison but he’d sooner teach himself to tap dance than be able modify or repair more than your average piece of earth tech. Which is why he’s doing the smart thing and looking for Pidge before he ends up blowing something up. Besides it’s probably his recent upgrade to red that’s causing her to act up like this. 

He’s headed in the direction of Pidge’s quarters now. He’d already checked earlier ( in fact it’d been the first place he’d looked ) but it can’t hurt to check a second time. His thinking is that maybe, _just maybe_ he took his afternoon nap in his own bed this time. Now with that kind of thinking he really shouldn’t be going into his room to disturb him but honestly he’s too impatient and hungry to care at this point. 

As he reaches the smooth metal doors leading into his room they open automatically. He’s already halfway through the doorway when it occurs to him that maybe he should’ve knocked or something before just barging into his room. 

That was his mistake. 

It takes him a second to fully comprehend the sight before him, his eyes widening and his eyebrows rising as freezes mid step and stares blankly. 

Pidge was changing. His hair damp from what Keith assumed was a prior shower. Fortunately for both of them he was at least moderately dressed. However he was lacking of his large windbreaker as well as the loose fitting t-shirt he wore underneath leaving him clad only in his khaki shorts and what Keith can only assume is a sports bra. Sports bra?…Why would Pidge need a sports bra it’s not like —

Then the truth hits him fit the force of a fleet of attacking galra ships. 

 **Pidge is a girl**. He isn’t a he at all but in fact a she. How had Keith overlooked this? Granted he hadn’t known Pidge very long really. But he feels like he should have realized something this significant sooner. He’s usually a very perceptive person, always trying to figure out what made his friends and enemies alike tick. Had he lost his touch? How had he possibly missed this?

His train of thought is interrupted by a loud, shrill yell of surprise from Pidge. 

“Keith! What are you doing?!”

The shout shaking him back to his senses, Keith turns away from Pidge. He feels his face begin to grow hot from embarrassment as he lifts a hand to cover his eyes despite already turning away from her to further prevent himself from seeing anything else. 

At the same time Pidge hastily covers his- _her_ chest with her arms, her face equally red and flaming as she sends a murderous glare in his direction. 

“I- I Uh…” Is he stammering? He hardly ever stammers. Then again he tends to refrain from speaking at all so there’s hardly ever a chance for him to do so. Oh, he’s just making this situation worse for himself. He better say something before she slaps him or something. “— I needed to talk to you…uh about my lion.”

“And you didn’t think about knocking before you barged into my room?! What if I was naked?!”

“But you weren’t naked!”

“I almost was!”

“I’m sorry okay?! How was I supposed to know?!”

“What are you yelling for?! You’re the one who came in without permission!”

Keith clears his throat, actually unaware of the volume of his own voice until that moment. He’s still refusing to turn in Pidge’s direction in respect to both of their dignities. “Right…uh so would you mind helping me out with Red? She’s been acting weird all day and I thought you’d be more likely to figure out what’s wrong than me.”

“Okay but first…” she trails off and then suddenly a surprisingly forceful grip is on his wrist, pulling Keith round to look at Pidge, thankfully now fully dressed. His eyes widen as he’s forced to meet her gaze. Had Pidge always been so strong? She must’ve been since they really hadn’t been training in the castle for more than a couple days. It’s not necessarily an incredible amount of strength and had he wanted to he could easily have overpowered her and freed himself from her grip, but for someone of her size and build it is rather unexpected and impressive all the same. 

What’s also unexpected is the intensity of her gaze. Though unlike her sudden strength her tendencies to be serious and intense are much more noticeable in how she acts in her day to day life. They’re similar in that regard. Maybe that’s why they were meant to be the two arms of voltron. But she’s far less intense and sometimes aggressive than he. She actually seemed to have a decent sense of humor too. He kinda envied her for that. Sure he could enjoy a good joke now and again and he certainly was witty when he wanted to be but he’s hardly a jokester or a comedian like the others. But it’s no matter really. He may be a bit too solemn and serious at times but sometimes that’s what a team needs when they’re about to be under attack and Lance is too busy goofing off to notice. 

Keith frowns, brows knitting together as he stares back at Pidge in bewilderment. Is she more mad than she was letting on? Why the need to grab him so forcefully? 

But his inner questions are answered when she speaks, her eyes seeming to bore holes right through him. “ **Don’t tell anyone** , okay? I’m not ready to tell everybody yet.”

While perhaps Pidge’s request answered one of Keith’s questions, it left him with several others as he raises an eyebrow at her in confusion. Why on earth was she hiding her identity? How long had she been lying to them? What else is she keeping from the team? Does this have something to do with Commander Holt? She told them she was related to him didn’t she? Is Pidge even her real name?

Had the circumstances been different, Keith probably would have begun ambushing her with these questions. But as it was he’s still a bit baffled from this whole thing and can hardly utter more than a slightly dazed “Why?”

Pidge releases her grip on his wrist, a slightly uncomfortable expression on her face as she shoves her hands into the front pockets of her windbreaker. To his surprise she seems to be having trouble looking at him, at least directly in the face. Odd it seems, to so suddenly become the meek and hesitant one when moments before she looked as if she was about to punch his face in. He doesn’t understand why she’d feel so uneasy about this truth discovered. It’s not like Keith thinks any differently of her now. She’s still his teammate and she’s still his friend ( maybe? he considers her a friend anyway ) regardless of what genitals she has or doesn’t have. 

But maybe it matters to her. It is her secret after all no matter how bizarre and unnecessary it seemed to him. He raises an eyebrow at her, habitually crossing his arms over his chest as he simply stares at her in silence, waiting for any sort of response to his question.

“It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got time.”

———————

“— and then you showed up to save Shiro and you know the rest from there.”

Pidge has relaxed some since her initial encounter with Keith earlier. She’s sitting on her bed now, leaning against the headrest with outstretched legs as she tells her story to a surprisingly attentive Keith, sitting at the foot of the bed. 

At first she’d been hesitant to let the full truth be known to him but once she let herself talk the words and the story she’d been holding back for almost a year now just started spilling out freely. It’s a relief actually to finally tell the truth and let herself be free of the guilt of lying to the others. At least one more person knew the truth and in all honesty she couldn’t think of a better person to tell. He’s one of the more level headed members of the team and he’s known her for less time than someone like Hunk or Lance. She doesn’t even want to think about how they’ll react when she tells them. Both of them are prone to being a little overdramatic ( Lance greatly more so ) so they’re bound to freak out when she decides to tell them the truth. While Keith had freaked out a little bit that was probably more to the fact that she’d been changing and less to the whole girl thing. He certainly recovered from the whole thing quickly but she wouldn’t have expected any less of him. 

“Wait, hold on,” Keith turns to her, eyes narrowed and eyebrows knit together, “— You mean to tell me that you not only managed to break into the Garrison almost completely undetected you also  successfully fooled a **high security** military base that you were completely different person?”

“Uh…yeah I guess.” She grimaces, slightly discomforted by the tone and subject of his questions. Is this way of showing his disapproval? Maybe she shouldn’t have told him after all. But he can’t really judge right? He got kicked out of the Garrison for bad behavior after all. He doesn’t strike her as the type to judge someone for their past wrongdoings. Then again she still doesn’t really know him at all. 

“Impressive.”

Her eyes widen as he speaks once more, whipping her head up to look at him. Her face grows slightly warm as she sends a grateful smile in his direction. She didn’t know what she was expecting from him for with Keith you expect the unexpected. He always found a way to surprise her. 

Keith returns her smile with a sort of half smile of his own, causing Pidge to further flush. She’s not really used to receiving compliments and she never really knew how to take them with grace. But when has she ever taken anything with grace?

“It was nothing really. Since I’d visited my brother at the Garrison plenty of times I had a good idea of the place’s floor plan and the security measures there. Once you have that figured out it’s actually fairly easy to figure out how trespass undetected especially after I hacked and disabled their security cameras. Actually it was kinda surprising how easy it was to hack into their systems considering they’re supposed to be a high security facility. I completely broke down their firewalls in under an hour…or it might have been a half hour. They really should try to up their security measures. I mean if I could hack into their systems so easily I’m sure someone else could as well. Then again I’ve yet to meet a hacker as skilled as I am so perhaps —”

“You’re rambling.”

“What?” Pidge blinks, furrowing her brows as she forces her mouth shut. She really ought to work on her rambling problem. It can come off a little obnoxious especially to more quiet people like Keith. She shifts her gaze away from him, her face burning from embarrassment. “Sorry.”

To her surprise he lets out a chuckle. She can’t recall ever Keith him laugh before. He’s always been a rather serious person. It’s actually quite a shame. He has a nice laugh. Hopefully she’ll be able to hear it more often. 

“It’s fine,” Keith replies his laughter subduing into a simple smile, “You know it might seem easy to someone so capable like yourself, but I was a cadet for over two years before I got expelled and I know how tight their security measures are. What you did was impressive. I know I couldn’t have done it. I know there’s few people out there who could have done it. You’re very smart, Pidge…or would you rather go by Katie?”

“I…uh— Pidge is fine,” she responds, her voice low and slightly hesitant. She chooses not to acknowledge his praise of her, hoping to save herself from further embarrassment. For a moment there is silence between them, the two of them merely looking at each other. Keith’s gaze is rather intense whether by his intention or not. He’s always been a rather intense person so it’s not really a surprise to her that his eyes held such intensity also. However this time while his eyes on her were intense, they did not intimidate her like they usually did. It’s a sort of soft intensity on her that she’s not entirely opposed to. Her face is in flames now though at this point she has little control over that now. She’s one to be embarrassed easily and once she’s been flustered so there’s really no way of stopping it. 

She clears her throat, a slightly bashful expression on her face. She drops her gaze to her lap, lifting a hand to scratch the back of her neck in slight discomfort. “So I— um you said you needed help with your lion?”

“Oh— yeah right.” Keith blinks, looking fairly dazed as he turns to look at her. “I almost forgot about that.” He immediately rises to his feet, turning towards her and outstretching a hand to pull her up also. She hesitates a moment before taking the hand offered her and rising also. 

“Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

Pidge lingers a moment before heading out towards the door absentmindedly squeezing the much larger calloused hand in hers before releasing his hand and pulling away. She sends a smile back in Keith’s direction as walks through the doorway. “Well, are you coming? Or do you have second thoughts about having a girl handle your lion?”

He smirks, pausing a moment before following her through the door. “The only one I don’t trust to handle my lion is Lance.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading guys!


	3. Competition

“Don’t tell me you’re scared?”

It was a challenge, one that despite his better judgement Keith found hard to refuse. He’s never backed down when challenged even if the logical side of him knew it was foolish or dangerous. In this case it’s very clearly both yet here he is struggling to put aside his pride for one moment to have some common sense. 

“Pidge, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

The bespectacled girl before him however had a different idea. She raises an eyebrow at him, smug grin across her lips growing wider and wider by the second. Her eyes flash with a sort of devilish delight as she meets his eyes in an attempt to intimidate him. It works and Keith’s resistance is beginning to crumble. Keith may be tightly wound and set in his own ways but somehow Pidge always finds a way for him to come undone. 

“ _Come on_ , Keith it won’t be so bad. Allura said this planet is almost completely uninhabited and Shiro did say we could take a break. What’s the harm in a little fun.”

He sighs, “I can think of a few reasons. Pidge I just don’t think we should be wasting our time by playing stupid games.”

“Fine.” Pidge huffs over dramatically turning away from him as she heads in the opposite direction. It’s all a charade though, Keith knows her well enough to know she’s not one to throw temper tantrums…well not temper tantrums that looked like that. No doubt it’s another tactic to manipulate him into doing what she wants. Suddenly she stops, turning her head back and flashing him a knowing look. “I’ll just get Lance to race me. He’s a better pilot anyway.”

And he’s gone. His defense has completely shattered now, a slightly outraged look on his face. He knows better; he knows better than to think she actually means that and he knows better than to doubt his own capabilities. It’s a jab at him and they both know it. But she’s put his own skill, his own pride into question. Regardless of whether she really thinks Lance a better pilot than him he needs to prove her wrong. 

“You’re on.”

“Glad you see it my way, Keith,” she says smugly practically strutting away from him now to retrieve her armor. _Oh, she’s good_. But it doesn’t mean she’s actually going to beat him. She may be smart but he’s been flying way more than she has. Not to mention red is the fastest of the all the lions. He’ll outfly her no doubt. 

From the other room, he hears Pidge’s voice once more. “Hurry up, Keith or I’m gonna start without you!”

Damnit, Pidge. 

Unlike Keith, Red had absolutely no qualms with a forthcoming race. Guess she’s a bit more lighthearted than he had originally thought. He rolls his eyes as his lion’s excitement and glee filled his mind. An amused grin on his face, he sits promptly in the captain’s seat, beginning to set Red’s controls to better suit the race’s conditions. Meanwhile Pidge’s voice comes through the intercom function on his helmet.

“You ready yet?”

“Impatient are we?” he asks, grinning at the slight anticipation in her voice. 

“Just looking forward to beating you.”

“You mean when I beat you?”

“Oh, _you wish_.”

In his other ear another voice, a much more nasal, irritated voice sounds through the intercom, “Can you two stop flirting so I can count down and go back to my nap.”

Both Keith and Pidge reply in unison. “Shut up, Lance.”

An annoyed huff is heard from Lance as Keith finishes preparing himself for the race. Gripping the controls tightly he speaks into the intercom, “Ready when you are, Pidge.”

“Okay, Lance start counting back so you can go back to wasting your life.”

“Hey!”

“Just do it, Lance.”

“Fine. On your marks, get set…admire Lance’s beauty.”

_“LANCE!”_

“Alright, worth a shot — 3, 2, 1…GO!”

In an instant the two lions fly off of the planet’s surface and into the sky above. They’re both going at unbelievably fast rates, Keith leading ( no surprise there ) a fraction of the way. He grows slightly smug at that, grinning for a moment before focusing his attention to his lion and the path he’s meant to fly through. 

For a good portion Keith’s in the lead, Pidge not even in his line of few until about five minutes in. In a flash of vibrant green she’s beside him and suddenly she’s leaving him in the dust. As she flies ahead of him he swears he can see the Green Lion shake her tail at him tauntingly. Red confirms this as an intense feeling of outrage flows through to him. 

For the first time since they’re race had begun Pidge’s voice comes through the intercom, this time chipper and full of smugness. “See you at the finish line, Keith!”

“We’ll see about that.”

He ramps up his speed, only just making it to Pidge for a moment before she bolts ahead once more much to Keith’s bafflement. How is she doing that? She’s surpassing speeds he thought incapable of her lion. His lion is supposed to be the fastest, Allura said that herself. He’s currently at his lion’s full speed yet she’s still ahead of him. 

As if reading his own mind, Pidge speaks up again through the intercom, “Like my newest upgrade? I gave my lion a higher speed capacity plus enhanced the cloaking shield so it’s more long wearing. I’ve been next you this whole time! Just wanted to let you think you were winning for a second.”

“That’s cheating!” 

“There weren’t any rules about upgrades, Keith.”

“Yeah but now you have an unfair advantage.”

“You would've had an unfair by having the fastest lion. Besides I needed to test out these upgrades. So stop being a sore loser. ”

He scowls, huffing before tightening his grip on the controls. “I haven't lost yet.”

“No but you will.” Her words are spoken in an almost sing song fashion, sickeningly sweet in ways he thought incapable of her. Once more her lion speeds ahead and is completely lost in view. “Bye, Keith.”

**Damnit, Pidge.**

Fifteen minutes in and Pidge is nowhere in sight. He’s pretty much lost hope in beating her at this point really. He’d probably have given up at this point if he wasn’t so stubborn to finish. He’s not going to enjoy seeing the smug look on her face when he reaches the finish line though. He’s not too far off from the end of the track though. Pretty sure he’ll be coming up to that oasis Allura mentioned earlier any minute now.

Then right on the horizon he spots it, something large and dark that Keith can only assume is a ship. It’s massive, larger than Green or any of the lions ( individually at least ) for that matter. His heart drops into his stomach as he grows closer and recognizes the similar dark exterior and purple linings that are found on almost every Galra ship they’ve encountered. Instantly he thinks of Pidge and the horrifying fact that she’s nowhere in sight. 

“Pidge! Pidge are you there?!”

For every moment of silence Keith grows more and more panicked, his tight grip on his lion’s controls due to anxiety and fear rather than focus and determination. God if something happened to Pidge while on Keith’s watch, Shiro would never forgive him, he’d never forgive **himself**. He shouldn’t have let her persuade him into doing this stupid race. 

Pidge’s voice comes through the intercom again and Keith does all but pass out from the relief of it all. However the change in her tone and the obvious stress and urgency in her voice doesn’t give hime much time to be relived. 

“Keith! Stop flying! Don’t come any closer okay?! There’s a galra ship up ahead and they’ve already spotted me. I don’t think they see you yet so turn back and warn the others. I’ll try seeing if I can get my cloaking shield on again but it’s upgrade is defective and leaving it inconsistent.”

“Pidge, I’m going after you. You can’t fight them off on your own.”

“ **No!** The galra don’t need another lion in their sight or they’re just going to try to take us both. It’s better that they just keep me as their focus. Just go warn the others. Whatever happens don’t come after me.”

“Pidge, I can’t do that.”

“Keith for once in your life just stop being _a stubborn sack of shit_ and do as I tell you! Just go! Go warn the others! Go save yours—”

And then Pidge’s intercom cuts out causing Keith into a wave of panic. 

“Pidge?! Pidge?! Do you hear me?! Are you there?! PIDGE!”

Silence. 

For a moment everything is still; his lion, his breath, his own heartbeat. Everything is stunned into silence. Then, a determined expression on his face Keith moves his lion forward at full speed.

If Pidge were there she’d kick his ass for disobeying a direct order from her. But he can’t do it, he can’t risk her safety just to save himself. He can’t just flee without even trying. He’s never been one to back down from a challenge, whether it be a silly race or facing certain death. Today won’t be the exception. 

As he flies toward the ominous dark ship, he turns on his intercom once more this time contacting the castle. 

“Allura! Allura do you read me?! Allura are you there?!”

For a moment there’s silence and then the regal and commanding voice of the princess comes through the intercom. 

“Keith? What’s wrong? Where are you?”

“I’m out on the planet we’ve landed on. There’s a galra ship up ahead. Pidge is out here too and she’s not responding to the intercom. She may have been captured. I’m going after her but warn the others.”

“Keith! No! It’s too dangerous to go out there on your own!”

“Allura, I can’t just abandon Pidge.”

He hears her sigh from the other end of the intercom. “Just…be careful okay. I’m going to send the others to aid you. But I don’t want you being reckless out there okay. Be smart about this.”

Keith nods, appreciating Allura’s words. “Okay, I will.”

“Good luck, Keith.”

He nods, switching his intercom off and returning his attention to the forthcoming ship. He’s not far now, probably a half mile from the imposing threat. No doubt he’s been spotted by the crew manning the vessel for in a moment a great purple lazar shoots in his direction. Keith is just barely able to dodge the shot, abruptly swerving in the opposite direction. He’s not as lucky the second time however, the shot grazing the side of his lion and creating a shallow cut along Red’s ‘ribcage’. This doesn’t slow them down though, if anything he charges with more ferocity and determination. 

He swerves another shot with ease before firing his own weapons toward the battleship. Tensions are high and Keith is admittedly overwrought with stress as he finally makes it to the ship. Though unlike most people including his own teammates, stress does little to debilitate him. If anything the high stakes and pressure hone and sharpen his focus further. He’s on top on his game now despite everything. 

In the corner of his eye he sees a flash of green and in a moment the green lion flies into his line of view. Pidge and Green had clearly been fighting hard since Keith had last seen them, the lion’s exterior worn and dent ridden. From the lion’s mechanical joints sparks flew and lights flickered. Overall the great beast looked more like a defective toaster than a piece of battle craft. 

A weak shot of emerald plasma fires through green’s opened jaws, it finds it’s target but does little damage to the larger battleship. The Galra ship retaliates tenfold, nearly knocking Pidge’s lion to the desert floor below. Then abruptly the fire stops, all three parties still for a moment seemingly waiting for someone to make a move. 

It’s the galra ship that makes the first move, an entirely different lazar aimed at green now. Keith’s breath hitches when he realized it’s a similar ray to the one on Sendak’s ship, the very one that nearly pulled all five of the lions onto his ship. It’s like a dream, a horrifying terrible dream watching Pidge and her lion rise higher into the sky, not from their own volition but by the overpowering ray. 

Keith’s desperate now to find some way to stop this, stop this horrible thing from happening before his very eyes. Then suddenly like lightning the thought strikes him. He forcefully pushes his controls forward, flying straight for the canon firing the debilitating ray. With little prompt from Keith, Red opens her powerful jaws, smashing them down on the canon before crushing and tearing the weapon right off the side of the ship. Once freed from the ray’s grip, the green lion sinks down to the ground, falling to a sickening sounding crash. 

Now that Pidge and her lion had been struck down the galra soldiers manning the ship to focus their attention on Keith, shooting at him with every ray and canon they have. At first it’s easy dodging the fire but as the shots grow more frequent and his lion grows more weak it becomes more and more difficult to swerve the fire. But he just needs to hold them off for a little bit longer, keep them from capturing either of the lions long enough for the rest of the team to get there and help them fight off this ship. The ship may be large but there’s only one of them, no way it would be able to overpower all five of the lions. 

But as another shot hits him he feels Red’s resistance crumbling. His lion like Pidge’s isn’t really equipped with the strong armor that the other lions’ possess. Each shot he fires seems to do half of the damage onto them than their fire do onto him. No matter what he does or how much he tries to dodge their fire they never seem to let up. With another powerful hit his lion starts losing momentum and he begins to fall to the ground also. His last desperate attempts of regaining power are futile as the unrelenting fire of the galra shoot him down. Like a wounded warrior Red falls, injuring Keith in the process as she hits the ground with a thud. The last thing he sees before passing out is wave of vibrant purple coming straight for him. Shot, after shot of fire ready to hit them clean through. 

And then everything went black. 

——————

Keith wakes up inside one of the castle’s cryopods the following evening. He wakes up sore, drained and a little drowsy but nonetheless **alive**. He’ll have to ask the others what happened after he got knocked out. He can only assume the others took out the ship and brought he and Pidge back—

Pidge, she went down before he did. He has to make sure she was okay, that she was safe. He whips his head around to look at the other cryopods, searching for the familiar mane of sandy hair and round glasses inside one of them. To his dismay he finds them all vacant. Had she woken up already? _Did she even make it back?_

Brows furrowed he breaks into a run, paying little attention to his sore muscles as he sprints in the direction of Pidge’s quarters. His chest aches as his breathing becoming more strained but he refuses to stop until he reaches the stainless steel door leading into her room. 

Not stopping to knock or possibly consider that Pidge could be asleep inside ( he really has no concept of time at this point since he failed to check the time before going to see Pidge ), he pries the doors open. 

“Pidge?”

The room is silent for a moment and then a soft groan rings out from the bed on the side of the room. In another moment Pidge rises from the heavy covers on the bed. If he hadn’t known who’s room he was in, he’d mistake Pidge for someone else. Hey hair, wilder than usual looks more like a giant furry animal rather than someone’s actual hair. It stuck out in all directions and had circumstances been different Keith would have burst into laughter upon seeing her. However he’s glad he refrains from laughing for judging by her expression Pidge seems in too ill of a mood to tolerate being made fun of.

“This better be good. I just fell asleep and — Keith? You’re up.”

“Yeah. So are you.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m alive.”

Pidge says nothing, but gives him this sort of sad looking smile and nods. Because she **understands**. They’ve been doing this for a while now, too long really. For countless months they’ve been fighting, fighting for so long they’ve mostly forgotten what they’ve been fighting for.         It’s definitely not a lighthearted life to live. They’ve been riddled with dark times and the few lighthearted moments ( the race yesterday for example ) they have seem to always be ruined by something. Really their only victories these is that they’ve all managed to survive even after everything they’ve been through. 

Pidge looks like she’s about to say something, eyes watching him intently. She opens her mouth to speak but is silenced when Keith unexpectedly comes barreling toward her. He knocks the wind out of her as he quickly stoops down and wraps his arms around her in a ferocious hug. It’s unlike him to initiate contact with others and be so outwardly affectionate but in times like this it’s all he can really do to get what he wants to say across. He shuts his eyes, burying his face in her shoulder as he squeezes her tightly. Pidge tenses up at first but a moment later she sighs and wraps her arms around him also. 

“I was so worried.”

“I know.”

“Your communicator cut out and I just—”

“I know.”

“I couldn’t just leave you.”

“I know.”

Though her responses are repetitive, they soothe his fear and his worry. Keith takes a deep breath, his brows furrowing as he makes a move to pull away but Pidge’s surprisingly strong grip on him keeps him in her arms. 

“You know, I was worried about you too.”

“…”

“I told you not to go after me, I told you to keep yourself safe.”

“Pidge, I couldn’t— ”

“I’m not done. You are _so_ pigheaded and stubborn. You **completely ignored** me when I specifically told you to go back. You stupidly risked your lion and your safety and…”

“Pidge…”

“— you probably saved my life.”

Keith freezes, almost unsure if he heard her correctly. He stands speechless at Pidge’s bedside as she pulls away from him. Pidge sniffs, her brows furrowed as she looks up at him with slightly watery eyes. Keith bites his lip, growing a little misty himself as he tries to find the right words to properly convey what he’s feeling.

He doesn’t need to though. His eyes say enough and Pidge cracks a watery smile. She reaches forward and lightly punches his arm. “Now don’t go soft on me, Keith. We already have Lance as team cry baby we don’t need another one.”

He lets a halfhearted chuckle, grateful for the stupid joke to lighten the moment. Honestly he needs more excuses to laugh these days. There’s been so few times in these last months that he’s really genuinely laughed. 

“Thank you, Keith.”

“Anytime.”

He turns away, ready to stride out of her room but he’s stopped when a small hand grips on his wrist and pulls him back toward her. He turns his head round to see Pidge, face twisted into a pleading look. 

“ _Stay, please_. I haven’t seen you all day.”

Keith smiles again, _a real genuine smile_. He nods, stepping toward her and sitting down on the bed beside her. Pidge shuffles a bit to give him space, pausing before grabbing hold of the covers and wrapping them over his shoulders. She scoots toward him, leaning over and resting her head on his shoulder gently. His smile widens and he reaches over to ruffle her hair affectionately. For a while they just sit together in silence, simply enjoying each other’s company and the peacefulness each other’s presence brought to them. Then Pidge speaks up again.

“Keith?”

“Yeah?”

“I totally crushed you in that race.”

Damnit, Pidge.

“Shut up.”


	4. AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note that this is a greaser au set in the 1950's. Pidge and Keith are both high school students in some small town like all those 50's movies seem to be in.

They said that he was trouble, that he was a good for nothing bum who wrecked havoc everywhere he went. They said that he would do nothing but be a bad influence on her. 

Maybe that’s why she liked him so much. 

It wasn’t always like that though. Katie didn’t always have a thing for him. Sure she’d always been fascinated with him. How could you not with such a mysterious guy, all dressed in black, showing up to school each day on that cool motorcycle of his. It’s like he walked straight out of a James Dean movie. It didn’t help that no one seemed to know a thing about him. Like a living legend he strode out through the halls in silence. He never bothered to talk to anyone throughout the school day and then he left as silent as he entered. 

That didn’t stop him from having a reputation however. No even quiet loners like Keith had a reputation especially when you look as intimidating as he does. In the hall groups of kids would whisper all sorts of things about him as he walked passed. Some of them were true.”

“I heard he got kicked out of his last school for beating up a bunch of freshman.”

“I heard that he’s the one robbing the convenience stores.”

“I heard he killed his birth parents.”

A lot of them weren’t. 

But despite his delinquent appearance and bad reputation he still managed to be one of the top students in the senior class. While most of the teachers also seemed wary of him unlike the students they held this sort of understated respect for him. Most of the student’s figured he’s been cheating to get his good grades or intimidated an ‘actual smart kid’ to do the work for him. But for Katie it only made Keith more interesting. 

Her attraction to him had started innocently enough, simply watching him from afar as he tuned his bike in the parking lot or ate his bagged lunch on the school steps alone. She’s memorized what he packs for lunch at this point. It wasn’t hard really. He brings the same thing every single day; a ham sandwich, an apple and a bottle of coca-cola. It’s a small and frankly boring lunch and Katie wonders if the only reason he eats that every day is because that’s all he can afford to eat. 

He didn’t need her pity, but she still felt sorry for him. 

At one point she’d made an attempt to talk to him, sitting beside him at lunch and offering to share the lunch her mother had packed her. Katie never needed all of it really. She’s not exactly a very big person and her mother always packed enough to feed five. She really only ate the peanut butter sandwich and whatever cookies her mother had packed that day. 

Keith however didn’t appreciate her gesture. On the contrary he seemed repulsed by the very idea of someone trying to give him anything. 

“I don’t need your pity,” he had said gruffly, rising to his feet before walking off to eat somewhere else. 

Katie wasn’t offended by his rebuff of her gesture. Really if their situation had been reversed she’d would’ve done the same thing. But even after being rejected by him like that she still found herself looking for excuses to be near him, to talk to him. 

Her brother Matt noticed this, and heartily disapproved. This didn’t really surprise her. He’s always been incredibly protective over her. In all honesty it’s unbearably annoying. She may be small but she’s not a kid anymore. She’s seventeen years old, _nearly an adult_ and she’s perfectly capable of taking care of herself regardless of what he thought.

This morning, he’d confronted her as she packed her bag for school. 

“Katie, you shouldn’t be hanging around guys like that.”

“Matt, you’re not the boss of me.”

“Katie, _I’m just trying to protect you._ ”

She stops, dropping her book bag before turning toward him with an irritated look across her face. She huffs, putting her hands on her hips in a very defensive matter. “Do you even know him Matt? Have you ever even talked to him, once? Or are you just being judgmental because he looks and acts a certain way.”

Matt sighs, crossing his arms over his chest, “I’ve heard things…”

“You should know better than to believe everything you hear.”

“And you should know better than to hang around people with such a bad reputation.”

She turns away, shaking her head as she roughly picks up her bag once more. “I’m not having this conversation with you, Matt. I’m gonna be late for school.” Ignoring her brother’s further protests she strides out of the house, slamming the front door behind her. 

Her walk to school was peaceful enough, gave her some time to clear her head and calm down. She just didn’t understand why everyone was so inclined to judge people they’ve never even spoken to. Though maybe she’s a bit of a hypocrite in that respect since she’s been known to judge plenty of her classmates without even speaking to them. But that was different, she had reasons for disliking the obnoxious letterman clad jocks who acted like they owned the school or the snobby socs who acted like they were better than everybody. She’s a scientist at heart. She doesn’t judge by reputation and rumors. She judges by what she sees right in front of her with her very eyes. And from what she’s seen of Keith, he’s definitely not as bad as every thinks. 

But not everyone is inclined to be like that. In fact most people around here get their information from rumors and gossip. Even her friends weren’t safe from this kind of thinking. No, just yesterday her friends Hunk and Lance were doing nothing but gossiping about Keith. Well, mostly Lance was doing the gossiping. Hunk mostly kept quiet save for a few comments about how scary he looked ( and to be fair he does look pretty scary ). Katie’s just chosen to tune them out at this point. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d ignored them when they were talking. 

Today school went by agonizingly slow and faster than the speed of light at the same time. She’s having trouble properly concentrating in class, she has been for the last couple of weeks and her recent grades show for it. What used to be consistent A’s have now turned to B’s or god forbid a C will make its way into the mix. Now for most people that wouldn’t be much of a problem but for her it’s a significant change. It’s gotten to the point where her calculus teacher pulled her aside after class. But it’s not her fault. She didn’t ask for Keith Kogane to ride his motorcycle into her head. She didn’t ask for this.

Is this what it’s like being one of those dumb girls that can’t talk about anything but the guy she likes? She’d never wanted to be that kind of person and to be fair she’s been much more subtle about her interest than her peers may be. The first time she actually swoons or says something stupid like ‘he’s so dreamy’ she’s giving Matt full permission to lock her up in a convent.

Actually scratch that, he might actually do that. 

But really while maybe she had been an unwilling participant in this whole crush thing ( does anyone actually like having a crush? that concept seems so odd to her ), but she’s accepted that it’s not going to go away any time soon so she may as well do her best not to look like an idiot. 

“Katie? Hello? Earth to Katie? Anyone in there?”

Katie is pulled out of her train of thought by Lance who’s leaning over the lunch table to wave his hand frantically over her face. She slaps his hand away, an unamused expression on her face. “What?”

“Did you hear about the fight that broke out during second period?”

He’s got her attention now. She may not actively participate in gossip but she never said anything about listening in on the recent scoop. She sits up, eyebrows raised in curiosity as pulls a grape out of her lunchbox and eats it. “There was a fight?”

Lance nods, looking maybe a little too enthusiastic considering they’re discussing a fight in school. “Oh, yeah that Keith kid got in a fight with one of the socs in the middle of the hallway. Think it might have been Mr. Iverson’s kid but I don’t know. It got kinda nasty they had to get pulled off each other.”

“ _What?_ Why? Who started it?”

Lance snorts, “Does it matter? They’re both total pricks. Both of them serving each other a beating is just karma’s way of killing two birds with one stone.”

“Lance, I’ve got news for you. You’re a prick too.”

Lance rolls his eyes, reaching forward to grab one of homemade gingersnaps resting in her lunchbox. “Kitty please, you know you love me.”

“I don’t love how you can’t seem to keep your hands out of my lunch,” she replies, scowling at him as she pulls her lunchbox away, “— and I told you not to call me Kitty.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

They continue to eat, Katie absentmindedly eating her sandwich while Lance stole more of her cookies when he thought she wasn’t paying attention ( she did notice but simply chose to ignore it. She’s never really liked gingersnaps anyway ). They’re joined by Hunk not long after, talking nervously about their history exam that upcoming friday. Or at least that’s what she thought he was saying. Honestly she tuned them out again and entered dreamland again. Thankfully this time Lance wasn’t inclined to bother her. 

It’s not until the bell rings for next period does she fully come back to her senses. Hunk’s already left them at this point ( he always made sure he got to class on time ) and Lance is starting to pack up his stuff. She rises to her feet, closing her checkered lunchbox and shoving it into her book bag. She’s not really paying attention as she does so, just blindly throwing things together and putting things away ( she put her chemistry in her lunchbox at one point and wasn’t aware of it until Lance teased her for it ).

Then she spots him. 

Keith Kogane is walking through the courtyard, sporting a black eye and what looks to be a bloody lip. He’s walking in the opposite direction of the rest of the students, heading in the direction of the parking lot. Multiple pairs of eyes including her own seem to follow him as he strode past, Keith however seemed unfazed by this as he made his passed. 

 _What’s he doing?_ Now’s not really the time to be taking a smoke break outside. He’d likely be late for class at this rate. Say what you must about Keith, but he always seemed to value his grades or at least that’s what it seemed like to her. Where could he possibly be going in the middle of the school day?

She was gonna find out. 

Katie bolts after him, carelessly dropping her book bag on the ground beside the lunch tables as she goes. Lance watches her leave, an expression of bewilderment on his face. In the distance she can hear him call after her. 

“Katie, what’re you doing?! We’ve gotta get to class!”

She ignores him. She’s going surprisingly fast considering her saddle shoes are nearing too small and the skirt of her emerald green dress is moving wildly in the wind. Truth be told she doesn’t really know what she’s doing or what she intends to do when she actually sees him. All she knows is that at the moment she cares far more about whatever Keith’s up to than going to whatever class she’s meant to be going to. 

She’s a couple of steps into the parking lot when she stops, eyes scanning for any sigh of Keith or his shining motorcycle. She doesn’t spot him until the roar of the bike engine rings out throughout the parking lot, whipping her head round in his direction and continuing her sprint toward him. 

There perched on his bike, gripping tightly on the handlebars is Keith. Now that she sees him up close Katie can see whatever went down earlier has left him clearly disheveled. Sure he’s never been someone she’d considered polished but today it’s different. His dark wash jeans have tears along his knees, exposing a rather nasty looking cut along his leg. The gel he usually wears in his hair has worn off now, his hair hanging limply over his eyes. It’s actually a pretty good look for him. But Katie wouldn’t be surprised if he looked in good in any look. 

He looks like he’s about to head off when he notices her, sighing as releases his grip on his bike to brush the strands of hair out of his eyes. “What do you want?” he asks casting her a rather exasperated look. 

The question catches her off guard, not simply because to the unexpectedness of it but also due to the fact is she doesn’t really know. She’d just sort of followed him on instinct, like a devoted puppy dog eager to please it’s master. The comparison isn’t that far off really. She couldn’t tell you why if you’d asked her but she’s always wanted to impress him in some way. She wouldn’t know how to even begin going about this but she still wanted to; possibly because he came off as difficult to impress and possibly because she always loved a challenge. 

She pauses, biting her lip as she tries to think up some kind of excuse for following him that didn’t sound creepy and/or stalker-y. She’s got nothing. 

“I…I don’t know.”

 _Way to impress him, Katie_. 

To her surprise he chuckles. It’s not a kindhearted laugh however, not like the one Matt makes when their father does something silly or the snorty laugh Hunk makes when Lance tells a joke. No Keith’s laugh is more cold, still genuine and having a trace of amusement in it. But it felt like he was laughing at her more than anything, looking down on her as some stupid little girl. To be fair she was feeling pretty stupid at the moment but it still didn’t feel good. 

“Go back to class, Einstein. I’m not taking any passengers.”

That gets a reaction out of her. Sure, he may be good looking and he may have her interest but Katie’s not someone who’ll let herself get pushed around by anyone. She frowns, hands rising to her hips in a defensive matter. “Oh, you think so highly of yourself don’t you? Did it ever occur to you that my car is parked here?”

It isn’t. She doesn’t even have a car…well not yet. The one she’s putting together isn’t finished and she’d hardly consider Matt’s car hers. Not that he knows that. 

Keith smirks, raising his eyebrows and giving her a sort of knowing look. “It’s not. You walked to school.”

Her eyes widen as she finds herself caught in her own lie. It’s not even the fact that she’s been caught that surprises her really but that he knew she’d walked to school that morning. Has he been watching her? No, she would know then especially considering any time he’s in her line of vision _she’s_ watching him. Besides why would he ever watch her?

“How…”

“You walk to school everyday. You always show up five minutes early and linger by the lockers before class. You go to class. You always eat lunch with Hunk Garrett and that other guy I can’t remember the name of. You eat in the courtyard at the same table every single day. You leave school immediately after the bell and are out the door before anyone else. You’re predictable, and a little boring. ”

**What the hell?**

“And you’re a stalker.”

“I prefer the term observant. Besides I don’t think you’re really one to talk stalking.”

“I…”

He’s got her there. 

He rolls his eyes, gripping onto the motorcycle’s handles again before starting the engine and putting his feet on the pedal. He gives her one last smug look as he rides off giving her a short sort of wave as he says, “Later.” 

She’s left completely flabbergasted. Was that even real? Did that actually truly happen? Or did she fall asleep during lunch and that whole conversation was some kind of weird dream? 

She doesn’t know how to process this whole thing. On one hand Keith Kogane, mysterious and cool greaser found her interesting enough to pay attention to. On the other hand it’s a bit unsettling knowing that someone is watching you and knows your daily schedule ( Not that she hasn’t done that too. The point still stands ). It certainly gave her perspective of how boring she was. To be able to be that predictable…it’s more unnerving than finding out Keith has her schedule memorized. 

She’s got to do something about that. 

The rest of the school day is a complete blur. If she was having trouble paying attention to class this morning it’s nothing to how she is now. Class, after class all she did was sit at her desk and thought about that conversation in the parking lot while pretending to listen to her teachers drone on about their designated subjects.

As the end of the day bell rings she lifts her eyes to look at the clock hanging on the wall. She’s going to wait _five minutes_ before she leaves, let the rest of the class vacate the room before packing her things and leaving. She’s not going to run out of the room and begin walking home like she usually does. She’s going to do something unexpected even if it’s something as insignificant as leaving a few minutes late. She has to prove him wrong. Moreover she has to prove to herself she’s not as bland and boring as he made her out to be. 

She taps her fingers on the surface of her desk as she impatiently watches the clock’s hands move. She’s never been a patient person. She’s never liked waiting around for things when she could be doing something productive with her time. It feels like such a waste to sit and wait here just to prove a point. Keith’s not even at school right now so why is she bothering to prove him wrong?

She’s only been waiting a minute and a half and honestly it feels like she’s aged a decade since the bell has rung. She could leave now right? It still classifies as late and she could add to her lateness by walking home particularly slow. It’s totally different from her usual routine to linger on her way home. She can always do that instead of waiting in her desk like an idiot. 

So she rises to her feet. She picks up her book bag and gleefully leaves the room, proud of herself for finally stepping out of her own groove. 

Two hours later and Katie is heading out again, now out of her dress and saddle shoes and clad in her favorite pair of pedal pushers and worn out keds. She’s never really been into wearing skirts and dresses. Some of them were okay, the soft comfortable ones that didn’t make you feel like you had to sit like a ‘lady’ but a lot of them just made her feel too prissy. She felt much more at ease when in her jeans and t-shirt. Besides her mother would kill her if she wore one of her dresses to help Hunk at the auto shop.

After school she occasionally goes over to the auto shop that Hunk works at. Coran the manager there gives her a decent sum for whatever work she helps Hunk with. It’s pretty generous considering she doesn’t actually work there…not officially at least. She really only started coming around because that’s where she’s got her half made car parked out and just helped out Hunk in her spare time. But Coran appreciated her handiwork so he was nice enough to pay her for it. So of course that just gave her more incentive to keep coming. 

Hunk’s already there when she arrives, working under the hood of a blue mustang and covered in motor oil. He waves a filthy had at her when she sees her walk in, stepping away to grab a rap to wipe his hands. “Hey! You’re here early.” 

She shrugs, peering over his shoulder to look at the car behind him. “I finished my homework early so I thought I’d pop in. Is Coran here?”

“Oh yeah, he’s in the back with a customer. He’ll probably be done in a second.”

Katie nods, reaching for the toolbox resting on the ground and picking it up. She walks past Hunk, eyes on the pretty mustang. “Okay, what’s wrong with this bad boy?”

“Nothing anymore. I finished working on it a couple minutes ago. I was just making some final check ups.” 

She sighs, pouting in a look a feigned disappointment, “You mean you started without me?”

He laughs, “Y’know I do still work here, Katie whether or not you decide to help me out for kicks.”

“Hunk, _you wound me_.”

“You’ll get over it. Come on there’s a bike over here I’m sure you’d love to get your grimy little hands on.”

He points to the other side of the room and Katie swears she feels her blood run cold. It’s not just any bike resting against the back wall, it’s **the bike** , the bike she’s been staring at and admiring for the past two months, _Keith’s bike_. 

Keith is here.

Oh god, she’s gonna be sick. 

On any other day she’d be absolutely over the moon that not only was Keith in the auto shop but she had the opportunity to work on his motorcycle. But today, after the parking lot incident, she’d pick watching soap operas and getting manicures with Lance over being in the same room as Keith. She didn’t need to make a fool out of herself again or deal with Keith making fun of her. 

She can’t let Hunk know that though. He doesn’t exactly know about the whole Keith situation and last time he found out about a crush of hers, he teased her about it for weeks. Granted this was in the 4th grade and the guy in question was later found out to be a booger eater but her point still stands. She can’t trust Hunk with this kind of information so she’s got to do her best to pretend that Keith’s presence doesn’t faze her in the slightest. 

“O- Oh…uh what happened to it.”

“Wouldn’t _you_ like to know?”

Katie practically jumps out of her skin as a new voice answers her. Eyes wide, she swiftly turns her head around to see Keith walking through the doorway from the other room, Coran following behind him. A small smirk appears on his face as he notices her look of surprise. 

“Hey, I didn’t scare you did I?”

Forget everything she’s ever said to defend Keith Kogane. She hates him and she hopes his bike falls to pieces. She crosses her arm, sending a glare in his direction.

“You wish.”

Hunk frowns, nudging Katie gently with his elbow. A confused expression on his face, he whispers to her, “Dude, what’s your deal? He kick your dog or something?”

“I’ll tell you later,” she mutters, turning away from the others.

She begins to fiddle with the various tools and stray car parts scattered across the floor. Hoping to appear busy in an attempt to avoid touching that stupid bike. She manages to do this successfully for about ten minutes while Hunk, Keith and Coran discussed the motorcycle before she completely gives up. 

She can’t do this. She can’t be here right now. The auto shop is her happy place and right now it was the last place she wanted to be right now. She just wants to go home and forget this whole day ever happened so she can return to school tomorrow like her usual self. 

“You know what, I’ve gotta go.”

Hunk raises an eyebrow, “Already? You just got here.”

“Yeah, I just remembered I have this thing with my Dad I have to do soon and I need to change out of these clothes first.”

She drops the wrench in her hands, shoving her hands in her pockets as she begins to make her way out of the garage and into the street beyond. As soon as she passes the auto shop she breaks into a run, trying to put as much distance between herself and Keith as possible. 

She ends up passing her house some minutes back. It doesn’t matter though. She still needs to clear her head and she didn’t really wanna deal with telling her family why she came home so early. She just keeps running and running until she reaches the diner a few blocks away from her house. 

Food fixes everything right?

She walks in, dumping herself into the nearest available booth before laying her head exhaustedly against the tabletop surface. She sits like that for the next couple of minutes until a voice brings her back to her senses. 

“You know, Katie I’d think you’d choose to nap in your own bed before camping out here.”

She lifts her head up to see Shiro, her neighbor and longtime family friend smiling down on her amusedly. He’s in his waiter’s uniform and holding up a pad of paper and a pen. Wow, finally a face that she didn’t want punch. 

“Well, your table makes a surprisingly nice pillow.”

Shiro chuckles, pausing a minute to give her a once over, “You okay? You seem a little down.”

She groans, burying her face in her hands. “Just a bad day. Nothing a chocolate milkshake won’t fix.”

He raises an eyebrow, “You know, I’m no expert but I don’t think milkshakes are going to solve all your problems.”

“Yeah, well I’m too young for alcohol.”

“ _Katie_.”

She waves her hand dismissively at him, “Yeah, I know, I know. I just need a pick me up, okay.”

“Fair enough,” he says sighing, jotting down her order on a slip of paper, “Do you want your usual with that too?”

“Yes please.”

He casts her one last sympathetic smile before turning away and heading back in the direction of the kitchen. Following Shiro’s departure Katie returns her head to the table’s surface, shutting her eyes and giving herself a moment of peace. It’s been a roller coaster of a day and quite frankly she’s feeling nauseous. 

She wished she could be six again. Everything was so much easier when she was six. Schoolwork was easy and she aced everything without even blinking an eyelash. There weren’t stupid distractions like boys and romance. She could be free to do whatever her heart desired without facing such trivial obstacles and challenges. 

People were more honest when she was six. These days her peers came off so plastic and fake with their plastered smiles and their false kindness. It was like the taste of artificial sweetener; it seems nice and sweet from the surface but quickly it dissolves in this pale imitation of what it’s meant to be. 

She didn’t want that. She wanted something real, she wanted **someone** real. 

_~~Keith was real.~~ _

But that didn’t matter. While she values honesty greatly but it’s become all too clear to her that honesty had a price. In Keith’s case his price was being a jerk. 

When her food arrives, she sits up, staring hungrily at the juicy cheeseburger and fries alongside her creamy chocolate milkshake. She hadn’t really eaten much at lunch, too distracted. She’s feeling ravenous really so she doesn’t hesitate to dig in, carelessly tossing Shiro a couple dollars before biting into her burger.

Katie’s so immersed in her meal that she doesn’t notice the front door swing open and a certain greaser stepping in. Keith pauses as he sees her, an expression of mixed surprise and amusement. He strides over to her, smile on his face and hands in his pockets. 

“This seat taken?”

Katie groans, not even surprised at this point as she lowers her burger filled hands and turns her attention to him. “Are you actually stalking me now? Because don’t think I won’t call the police.”

He rolls his eyes, “Okay now you’re just being paranoid.”

She casts him a challenging look, just daring him to keep trying her already low patience. “Am I? You seem to show up everywhere I go.”

He shrugs, hesitating a moment before sliding into the booth opposite her. “Fair enough but I came here on my own. I always head over here for dinner just ask anyone who works here.”

“You know I didn’t say you could sit.”

“It’s a bit too late for that now.”

Katie clenches her fists, giving him a murderous look as she pushes her plate away from her. He’s getting on her last nerves. First he has to belittle her than he makes fun of her and now he won’t leave her alone. She’s completely lost her appetite now and he’s entirely to blame. 

“What do you want?”

“To talk.”

“I have nothing to say to you and honestly I don’t care about anything you have to say.”

“I wanted to say...I’m sorry.”

Well scratch that she definitely cared about what he has to say now. She sits up, brows furrowed as she stares confusedly at him. “What?”

“I shouldn’t have said that stuff to you earlier or acted like an ass the other day when you offered me some of your lunch. I’m…I’m just not used to people treating me like that and I don’t really know how to handle it. Honestly you’re one of the only people at school who doesn’t seem to be scared of me and it’s — it’s just weird.”

Katie’s expression softens, looking away from him as she contemplate everything he’s just said. It’s a genuine apology, she knows that. She’s dealt with ( and told ) plenty of fake apologies to be able to spot a real one. In that respect she appreciated him. However it hardly felt like a viable excuse in her eyes so she’s still hesitant to immediately forgive him. 

For a moment there’s silence between them. Katie's gaze never leaves her folded hands in her lap and Keith’s gaze never leaves her. Finally he speaks up, voice more quiet and hesitant now.

“I got suspended today. That’s why I was leaving earlier.”

She lifts her eyes from her lap, eyes wide as she looks back at him, “What?”

“Yeah, I got into a fight with Connor Iverson this morning and the principal decided to suspend me. Didn’t do anything to Iverson though, little bastard.”

“Figures. When the vice principal is your Dad you’re bound to get special treatment,” Katie replies bitterly. 

Keith shrugs, “Whatever. The fat lip is I gave him is enough punishment. He looks like a defective rubber duck.” 

Katie laughs, finding herself surprisingly more at ease in his presence now. Don’t be mistaken. She hasn’t forgiven him, not yet anyway. It’ll probably be a long time until he’s fully in her good graces. But in all honesty this feels better than constantly feeling anxious about him or getting all dreamy eyed and dopey around him. He’s not so much a of an arrogant jerk or a hunky mysterious motorcycle man but just a person, a rude and irritating person. 

“Yeah okay but, that doesn’t explain to me why you know my school schedule. I mean I guess I’m kind of predictable but even my best friends don’t know that many details about me.”

He pauses, looking slightly embarrassed at her question. For a moment Katie swears she sees a faint blush rising to his cheeks. No way, there’s no way Keith’s blushing. It’s gotta be a trick of the light or something. 

But it isn’t and the longer he sits there in silence the more flushed and embarrassed he seemed to become. It’s surprisingly endearing actually. 

“Well, uh…I just notice you a lot. It’s hard to miss you. You tend to stick out in the crowds a lot. Plus I’ve uh, noticed you watching me so I just kind of got curious. You’re pretty interesting…despite your predictability.”

Now it’s her turn to blush. 

It’s stupid really; especially considering that she was already made aware that he’s been watching her. But this time it’s different. It’s not a jab or a mockery of her own schedule. This time it’s more private, more personal like he’s telling her a secret. Katie really doesn’t know how to respond to it in all honesty. He’s not the only one unfamiliar with people treating them a certain way. No one’s ever been this incredibly honest with her before. It’s almost unnerving. 

Katie bites her lip, gently pushing aside the remainder of her meal in his direction. “Want a fry?”

Keith gives her a grateful smile, reaching forward and grabbing one of the salty fries from her plate. Katie eats a few fries herself and not after long their sharing the last of the fries and milkshake in silence, both of them seeming a bit too embarrassed to speak or mention their previous conversation. 

When they finish Keith rises from the table first, curious eyes darting between Katie and the outside of the diner. “Do you need a ride home? It’s pretty dark out and it might not be best to walk home alone.”

Oh, she hadn’t thought about that. Really Katie could use the ride. It’s not exactly a long way back to her house but she really doesn’t like walking home in the dark. She lives in a relatively safe neighborhood but nevertheless there’s something about an empty sidewalk dimly lit by lamplight that just makes you feel uneasy. 

“Yeah, actually thanks but isn’t your bike in the shop?”

“It’s fixed. Turns out I just had a piece of my engine fall of. Once we replaced it Red was good to go.”

She raises an eyebrow, “Red?”

“Oh, uh yeah that’s the name of my bike.”

Katie chuckles softly, leading the way out of the diner as she walks toward the motorcycle sitting outside. “You named your motorcycle.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No, it’s just…” she casts a smile in his direction, a real genuine smile, “It’s kinda cute.”

He doesn’t respond, simply returning her grin with a shy smile. He steps onto the bike, turning his head toward her as he patted the small space of seat behind him. Katie steps onto the bike a little too excitedly. She’s never been on a motorcycle before ( Matt and her father would likely have a heart attack if they saw her on one ) and she’s looking forward to the ride.

“You’ll have to hold on tight. It goes pretty fast.”

“Oh…uh okay.” 

Her face grows warm as she lowers herself onto the bike’s seat, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. “Okay ready when you are.”

Keith nods, pressing his feet onto the pedals and driving off into the street. As the bike’s speed grows faster, Katie finds herself squeezing onto him more tightly. Despite the initial uneasiness the ride is rather spectacular. The cool night air on her face and the wind rushing through her long hair. It’s one of the greatest feelings she’s ever felt. 

She’d never thought she’d feel so alive just riding on a bike like this. Then again she never thought Keith would turn out the way he did. He was shy, he was funny. He was able to keep with her clever wit. He seemed to match her in every way possible. 

Maybe that’s why she liked him so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, guys! <3

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading guys. Find me on tumblr at [jockfrost](http://jockfrost.tumblr.com) and or on the [kidgeweek](http://kidgeweek.tumblr.com) blog. <3


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